WINTHROP – Put a wounded animal in a cage with a perfectly healthy one and the injured one will usually end up being the aggressor.

The same goes for basketball, apparently. Winthrop went into Friday night’s Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball opener still hobbling from a long football season, but turned out to be the more assertive team.

The defending Class C champions pounded the offensive boards and forced 25 turnovers to give Tyler Hunt a 52-42 win in his coaching debut.

Less than two weeks removed from a loss in the state championship football game, Zac Farrington tallied 15 points, five rebounds and four steals and Andrew Smithgall added 13 points and nine boards for the Ramblers.

“We just tried to spread the ball out against Livermore because they’re a scrappy team and they play good defense,” said Smithgall, who had missed over a week-and-a-half of practice due to football and an ankle injury he suffered in the state title game. “I was a little nervous because our team has only really been playing together for less than a week. We just came out and played tough defense.”

Winthrop started the first and second quarters strong only to have Livermore Falls battle back. The Andies erased a 7-0 deficit for a 9-9 tie after one, then battled back from an 18-11 to pull within 20-19 late in the second quarter.

But Winthrop closed the half with an 8-0 run, keyed by hoops from Smithgall and David Ketchen (nine points) off Livermore turnovers.

“We tried to mix up our defenses a lot tonight and get into their heads offensively,” Hunt said. “It seemed to work well wherever we pressured them, but even more when we extended full court.”

“We weren’t very aggressive tonight. We played scared,” Livermore Falls coach Travis Magnusson said. “When we caught the ball, we weren’t read to make a move. Tyler did a good job of switching it up.”

The Ramblers utilized multiple zone presses and disguised their halfcourt defense well to confound the Andies. While Winthrop never really found the hot shooting hand (34 percent), Smithgall (seven offensive rebounds) led a procession to the offensive glass as Winthrop opened up a 41-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The game became a free-throw shooting contest after that. Winthrop struggled (7-for-14), opening the door for Livermore Falls to make a run back into the game on a Khyle Whittemore drive to the hoop that cut it to 47-41 with 2:02 remaining.

“You could really tell that Livermore Falls was more prepared than us because of that week that we lost,” Hunt said. “Travis scouted us really well and I thought we had them scouted pretty well. It looked like we knew each other’s plays, so nobody could shoot.”

Winthrop finally pulled away in the final 28 seconds when Farrington drilled a pair of free throws and Skylar Whaley converted a steal into a clinching layup.

Whittemore and Chandler White led Livermore Falls with 13 points apiece. Ryan Ames added six points and 12 rebounds.